Desert Foods Fiesta Saturday, October 7th

Join us for a free event with a special presentation by David Yetman of PBS programs “In the Americas with David Yetman” and “The Desert Speaks.” Festivities include demonstrations on how to prepare various desert foods, sample foods available for free and purchase, mesquite pod milling, various local vendors, and other educational experiences.

You won’t want to miss the Desert Foods Fiesta on Saturday, October 7, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning located at 5403 W. Trails End Road in Tucson, Arizona. This free event features a talk by David Yetman, host of Arizona Public Media’s internationally acclaimed show “The Desert Speaks” and “In the Americas with David Yetman.” Mr. Yetman’s presentation will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the outdoor amphitheater.

In addition there will be on-going cooking demonstrations presented by Tucson’s Solar Guild, prickly fruit collection and preparation by Cooper staff and volunteers, and other foods being prepared and sold by vendors such as Native Seed/SEARCH, Big Skye Bakers, San Xavier Farm Co-Op, El Saguarito Restaurant, Prest Coffee and several other.

For those who would like to bring their own dried mesquite pods to be milled into flour there will be a hammer mill available. The milling charge is $3/gallon of pods (minimum $10 - cash or check only). Please bring a container for your flour or you may purchase a container at the event.

Since the sun is the source of our planet’s energy and food, solar telescopes will be available to safely view the sun, and a continuous presentation of the recent solar eclipse will be shown in the classroom. A demonstration provided by the Solar Store will show how solar photo-voltaic panels work and talk with people interested in adding solar panels to their homes.

For first time visitors to the Cooper Center, a partnership between the University of Arizona’s College of Education and Tucson Unified School District, you can participate in tours of the site, gather information on school group offerings and rental opportunities, and take short natural history walks in the desert. The center has touched the lives of over 140,000 students and adults since it began offering outdoor experiences in 1964 and has a full line up of educational experiences available for the 2007-2018 school year.

The Cooper Center for Environmental Learning is located at 5403 W. Trails End Road in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains. For more information on this event call 520-626-1825, or email Sanlyn Buxner at buxner@email.arizona.edu or Mike Mayer at mmayer1@email.arizona.edu.